Non-binary people's experiences in Scotland: evidence review

Housing

Evidence currently suggests that homelessness is an issue for trans people in Scotland, but more information is required about experiences of housing and homelessness for non-binary people in Scotland.

LGBT in Britain 2018^[ix] found that 24% of trans people responding to the survey, including non-binary people, had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives^[55]. England and Turnbull 2024 highlighted in their study of 1119 LGBTQ+ people in the UK, that a fifth of respondents had experienced homelessness. In this study 30% of respondents identified as trans, non-binary and agender and “over a third reported one form of homelessness in the last year” (pg. 49) which they suggest is nearly twice the LGBTQ+ average. Evidence found for this review suggests that LGBT young people reported that coming out to their parents was the main factor leading to their homelessness^[56] and 41% of trans and non-binary respondents who had indicated experiences of homelessness created by domestic abuse^[57]. Scotland’s Census 2022 may provide more data on the housing tenure of non-binary people in Scotland. Further exploration of experiences of homelessness for trans and non-binary people and the issues that can result in homelessness may be a useful future investigation.

There is a lack of information about the housing service requirements of gender diverse people in Scotland, attributed to a lack of equal opportunities monitoring in homelessness services^[58]. However, discrimination when attempting to access housing services also appears to be an important theme in existing research. The LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Report 2021 highlights that when accessing homelessness services, 43% of the trans young people surveyed said they had experienced discrimination or harassment due to being trans from a local authority or charity^[59]. Of those surveyed in this research, 40% also said they experienced misgendering or deadnaming. An example of this is exemplified by a quote from a participant, “I had a second support worker and she kept misgendering me. When I brought it up, she denied it and got angry with me. I didn’t know how to stand up for myself or raise concerns” (pg. 27). Stonewall Scotland suggests that specific domestic abuse and homelessness support services for trans and non-binary people need to be developed and advertised^[60].